As most of Aizen's consciousness returned, the Kyōka Suigetsu, which had been sustaining the illusion, dissipated, leaving behind only a lingering mist of deception.
In the outside world, only a brief moment had passed, and no one noticed the anomaly.
Mukade, who had mastered the dragon veins, was unaffected by the layer of illusionary mist. He quickly commanded the giant puppet controlling Uzumaki Naruto to absorb all the fog.
However, the brief lapse created an opportunity for the hidden Hyuga brothers to act!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The entire dragon vein transit station erupted with explosions, filling the space with smoke and fire. Simultaneously, the chakra flowing through the dragon vein and into the giant puppet became unstable.
Furious, Mukade's form began to disintegrate and reassemble, transforming into a bizarre spider-shaped puppet. His first target was Sāra below!
As Mukade leaped, turning into a dark shadow lunging at Sāra, Uzumaki Naruto finally broke free!
Although he couldn't fully communicate with the Nine-Tails at that moment, he could still tap into some of its chakra. The instability in the giant puppet that trapped him also played to his advantage.
Bang!
Covered in the red chakra cloak of the Nine-Tails, Uzumaki Naruto shattered the puppet's restraints and quickly dashed in front of the desperate Sāra.
"Rasengan!"
Naruto shouted as a spinning chakra sphere formed in his hand. He slammed it into Mukade, sending him flying!
"That's amazing!"
Seeing Naruto's heroic entrance and his rescue, Sāra was visibly awestruck. Meanwhile, Naruto simply grinned sheepishly at her, seemingly oblivious to the deeper emotions behind her gaze.
With his low emotional intelligence, it was unlikely that Naruto understood Sāra's feelings for him.
"Hey, you two, save the romance for later! The situation isn't resolved yet!"
Just as the moment was turning awkwardly sweet, a voice with a hint of teasing broke the silence.
Aizen's figure descended slowly in front of them, interrupting the charged atmosphere. Sāra's blush deepened into embarrassment, while Naruto looked on in confusion.
"Ah?! It's you. What were you talking about just now? I didn't get it at all!" Naruto asked, still puzzled.
During their earlier encounter, Aizen and the others hadn't revealed their real names to Naruto or Sāra, using only their Anbu codenames. Aizen's codename, "Moon," was one such alias.
Though the teams often called each other by their real names, Anbu protocol required them to stick to codenames during missions.
Hearing Naruto's clueless response, several black lines appeared on Aizen's forehead, a sign of his exasperation. Sāra's previously shy expression shifted into one of mild annoyance.
"Forget it. You don't need to understand what I said. Let's focus on solving the problem at hand!" Aizen sighed, rubbing his forehead, his tone filled with resignation.
"What problem? Didn't I just take care of Mukade?" Naruto asked, still confused.
Creak! Creak!
Before Naruto could say more, the sound of mechanical parts twisting and shifting echoed through the area, making his expression change instantly.
At the same time, the Hyuga brothers, having completed their mission, rejoined Aizen and the others, their eyes fixed warily on the source of the noise.
"Hahaha, with the power of the dragon veins, no matter what injury I suffer, I can instantly recover to my original state! How could you possibly be my opponents?"
Mukade's maniacal voice echoed as his once-damaged body was swiftly restored by the dragon vein chakra, bringing him back to life on the spot.
Simultaneously, Mukade used the dragon vein chakra to reassemble the scattered puppet fragments on the ground. In no time, he transformed into a towering puppet, standing 20 to 30 meters tall, with a massive mechanical tail.
"All of you... die!"
Mukade, now controlling the giant puppet, declared coldly from his lofty position, looking down on Aizen and the others.
"Damn it!" Uzumaki Naruto grimaced as he stared at the giant puppet, now even stronger than before.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto immediately created hundreds of Shadow Clones, sending them charging toward the puppet.
As the clones filled the battlefield, Aizen, though mentally prepared, couldn't help but be amazed by Naruto's reckless expenditure of chakra.
"Only Naruto would use the Shadow Clone Jutsu this way..." Aizen thought to himself, still impressed by the sheer number of clones.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The moment Naruto's clones made contact with the giant puppet, many were instantly destroyed.
But as the saying goes, even ants can bring down an elephant with enough numbers.
Despite the puppet's immense power, Mukade couldn't eliminate all the clones at once.
"Rasengan!"
Several of Naruto's surviving Shadow Clones managed to land their Rasengans on the giant puppet, causing cracks to form on its surface.
Crack! Crack!
The giant puppet began to fracture, emitting a continuous cracking sound. But under the influence of the dragon vein, the wounds quickly healed.
However, Naruto had anticipated this!
Leaping high into the air, Naruto held a Rasengan resembling a massive shuriken in his hand.
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
Naruto shouted, unleashing his most powerful Wind Style ninjutsu as a finishing move.
But Mukade, having fully mastered the dragon vein, had reached a level akin to a quasi-Kage.
The giant puppet he controlled not only possessed terrifying regenerative abilities but also had the strange ability to absorb chakra!
The puppet's head twisted, locking onto Naruto, and its massive mouth opened wide.
Szzzzz!
In Naruto's horrified eyes, the Rasenshuriken, his most powerful jutsu, was swallowed whole by the giant puppet, without even causing a ripple.
At the same time, the giant puppet opened a compartment in its abdomen, gathering violent purple energy.
Boom!
Several blasts of purple energy shot out, directly striking Naruto and his Shadow Clones, forcing Naruto to retreat in desperation.
Feeling the destruction of his clones, Naruto gritted his teeth and looked up at the giant puppet, which now radiated an overwhelming aura of menace.
His face was pale, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
Facing an opponent this formidable—one that could regenerate from any injury, absorb chakra, and wield seemingly endless energy from the dragon vein—Naruto found himself at a complete loss for how to proceed.
Seemingly sensing Naruto's helplessness, Mukade, hidden within the giant puppet, burst into an arrogant laugh:
"Hahaha, do you see it? This is my true power! With this power, the Five Great Shinobi Nations will fall into obscurity, and the entire world will bow at the feet of Mukade!"